The PlayStation 5 Pro was officially announced in a short presentation early this morning, and comes with a ton of new features. But the question remains as to whether or not gamers will embrace this upgrade, which might not be so easy considering the steep price tag.
As of right now, the PS5 Pro is priced at $699 US, and is even more expensive in other places across the world. Judging by the reactions from gamers on X/Twitter, many find this price point outrageous, especially considering the disc drive and vertical stand are each sold separately.
Among the many posts criticizing the price of the console, many compared the steep cost to what it takes to pay for a gaming PC, saying that people should just buy a cheap PC they can upgrade themselves instead of paying for an upgraded console that might become obsolete in a few years when Sony announces the PlayStation 6.
But these tweets mocking the price were also peppered with worries about the future of gaming. Currently, the regular PS5 is still very pricey at $500, and that’s not even including a PlayStation Plus subscription for online multiplayer and spending $70-$130 on single games. Not every gamer has the money to afford all of this, and since these mid-generation upgrades are the norm, lower-income gamers will be left out as gaming becomes more costly. And with no disk drive included at launch, those who advocate for physical media are also worried they will never be able to “fully own” games anymore.
But with the backlash from the PS5’s price tag, a new conversation has emerged from a completely different console: the successor to the Nintendo Switch. By now, it’s become a bit of a running joke that the Nintendo Switch 2 is never going to be announced, as the gaming giant keeps denying an announcement is coming every time they have a presentation. Speculation continues to run rampant online over when the Switch 2 will come out, but now there is also renewed speculation about how much the new console will cost. Many are assuming it will be around $400, which would be a big power move against Sony’s pricier option.
As of right now, all three of the current Nintendo Switch models (Classic, Lite, and OLED) are priced under $400. Not counting taxes, you could buy two OLED models for the same price as the PS5 Pro, as well as two classic models and three Lite models for around $600. Nintendo consoles have never been very pricey, even when they have upgraded internal specs from their predecessors. Going off of this, it’s safe to assume the Switch 2 will fall around that price range as well.
Will gamers spend the extra cash on a PS5 Pro? Or will they save their money and wait for Nintendo’s successor to the Switch?
